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It was a trap.
This was a gods-damned trap, and he had foolishly fallen right into it.
Felix breathed heavily, feeling his power surge through his veins. The Necromancer beside him put up a brave front, though it was obvious how much he was trembling. A group of Metas stood in a circle around them while the rest of the fleeing Metas disappeared behind them.
Cowards.
He, along with Orpheus, was in an empty cabin in the middle of nowhere. It was as bare and abandoned as cabins came, which meant that those Metas had set an elaborate trap just to isolate him for some reason. Unfortunately for both parties, they had not expected Orpheus to come charging through the portal as well.
The Guardian recognised every single one of his opponents’ sneering faces. He was not facing mere petty thugs this time. These Metas were criminal leaders with men under them and were all at least Tier three or higher. Still, they were far below Felix’s league when it came to raw power, even if they had numbers on their side. So what was the true purpose of this trap?
Felix’s eyes flitted to Orpheus again. Orpheus was a decent enough Necromancer, but he was still just an untrained civilian. Hell, it was probably one of the very few proper fights he had in his life. There was no guarantee that he’d come out of this unscathed. And Felix couldn’t let him get hurt because of his personal problems. So he made the first move.
A pink bubble encased Orpheus and pushed him out of the cabin.
The criminals moved all at once, right on cue. Red energy exploded from a pair of eyes, clashing with an intense psionic beam emitted from Felix’s hand. His telekinetic senses screamed in warning as another Meta on his left disappeared in a flash.
The psychic’s mind worked furiously, focusing on the speedster. The Meta had super speed, sure. But Felix was no slouch when it came to speed, either. With a clench of his fist, he slammed a psionic wall on the Meta and crushed him against the floor.
Easy. Who’s next?
The temperature dropped considerably as an ice wall hurtled towards him. Another psychic blast burst from Felix’s other hand, pushing back the ice.
His opponents collectively bellowed in effort as they engaged in their own wars of attrition. Felix, on the other hand, simply controlled his breathing as though this was just some light exercise, and gradually increased his power output to push them back.
Movement caught Felix’s eyes amid the chaos.
The overgrown vines in this abandoned house were moving like snakes and rapidly multiplying themselves. He looked on in confusion as razor-sharp tendrils began to grow out of their leaves. What the hell was going on now?
Felix yelled in a final effort, knocking out the stubborn Metas with a single wave of psychic energy. The surrounding walls crumbled into dust, revealing one last Meta, who had apparently been hiding in the shadows all this while.
Barbed vines flicked threateningly like snakes around Felix, as though warning him that the dendrokinetic Meta’s deadly harvest was ready. The lady’s eyes glowed green as she promptly sent a huge wave of barbed vines towards him.
Felix was not impressed.
“You attack me with vegetables?” he roared as though he was genuinely offended, shredding the plants easily with raw psychic energy. It was way too easy—
Vines wrapped his limbs from behind, catching him off guard and ending his onslaught abruptly. Felix yelped in both surprise and indignation as the plants lifted him into the air. His eyes burned pink as he began pulling himself free.
Meanwhile, the woman was panting with effort, desperately trying to transmute a leaf into a jagged branch before Felix broke free of his restraints. A shadow approached them.
“Arise, my warriors.”
Ceramic tiles cracked as skeletal hands burst from the ground, rising from the graveyard beneath the cabin. Just like a movie, dozens of skeletons crawled out of the soil as though they were zombies.
Most of them were missing a few bones here and there, but they were an intimidating army anyway. Felix grinned victoriously, recognising the emerald glow in the empty eye sockets. Necromancer Orpheus Caesar had come to his rescue.
The risen skeletons got to work quickly. Some plucked out the sharper parts of their body to act as knives, hacking away at the vines holding Felix. Others charged towards their foe like a vengeful mob.
The criminal leader shrieked in primal fear, falling over her feet this time and scrambling backwards. She whimpered pathetically as the army of rotting skeletons descended upon her, commanded by the Necromancer who was now by Felix’s side.
“You Magis and your weak spells.”
A powerful shockwave interrupted the spell and disintegrated all the skeletons. Felix reacted quickly, putting up a force field before the shockwave hit Orpheus. It flashed intermittently as the psychic grunted in surprise.
This was his first time blocking such an enormous force; none of his foes had ever managed to generate such power before. Felix glared warily at the stranger, who had come out of nowhere and was now standing in front of the woman.
Just who is this guy?
“Felix Pagonis.” The man gestured for the lady to flee as he faced Felix. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, comrade. My name is Titus Angelo, and I have a deal for you.”
Felix furrowed his eyebrows in suspicion. “You know me?”
“I only wish I did; you would have been a great asset to our cause.” Titus stepped forward. “But fortunately, I do know your sister. Shall we have words?”
Felix’s eyes stopped glowing.
~ ~ ~
“Now what?”
Gaius ignored the pouting girl as his eyes lit up with magic once again. He could not be bothered with trying to impress Kleopatra at the moment; saving the life of his reckless colleague was much more important.
But dammit, nothing was showing up.
All the criminals around him were either knocked out cold or just plain dead, so he couldn’t question them about where the portal led. If this were an official Guardian Council operation, he could easily trace the portal’s destination with an Arcani-detecting wand. But it wasn’t, so he didn’t have that officially-issued equipment on him at the moment.
It also didn’t help that the constables in this neighbourhood were the complacent type; they’d probably take another hour or so to respond to this commotion. Gaius couldn’t afford to wait that long.
He blinked and focused more magic into his eyes, but only felt a faint flicker in response. There were only two possibilities as to why this was happening. Either his magic was choosing to rebel against his Meta physiology now for some reason, or Felix was way too far away for it to plot a path to reach him. He did not know which was worse.
“What are you doing?”
“Kleopatra, be quiet. I’m trying to focus here.” Gaius gritted his teeth in concentration.
Wait— There!
A faint trace of a magic path finally materialised behind his eyelids.
The Sorcerer opened his eyes, which were now glowing much more fiercely than before. He turned around, allowing the gentle tug of the arcane energy to guide his movements. Gaius pointed into the distance.
“The portal took them that way,” he said curtly. “Let’s go.”
“What kind of magic did you use to decipher that?” Kleopatra asked curiously. “I’ve never seen anyone do this before.”
“It’s called… True Vision.” Gaius decided that he could afford to tell her the truth. “It’s a form of reality magic that shows me how to increase the probability of the best outcome. It also allows me to see a few seconds into the future and avoid any dangers.”
“Reality magic?” Kleopatra gasped. “I thought Divination took its place a long time ago! That’s Wizard’s magic, isn’t it? Where— How did you even learn that? That’s supposed to be an extinct form of magic!”
“I— Uhm… I read a lot,” Gaius stuttered and put a hand on his head sheepishly. His expression turned serious again. “C’mon, we really ought to leave now.”
“And don’t tell me you kids are planning to get there on foot?”
Gaius glanced at the lady sauntering towards them.
She was dressed in a frilly crimson robe that ended right before a glaringly white cowl. A technomagick visor covered her eyes, though it did little to hide her mature yet demure features. Soft fair skin peeked through the gaps between her clothes, making her catwalk all the more elegant.
What’s the Secretary of Defence doing here?
“Why are you here, Cleric Nerva?” Kleopatra scowled, not even attempting to mask the irritation in her voice.
“Why, I’m here to help you, of course.” The Cleric clasped her hands together and muttered a prayer.
Gaius and Kleopatra examined themselves as protective symbols materialised all over their clothes.
“What? You’re not going to stop us?” Kleopatra sounded genuinely surprised. “I thought you said I wasn’t ready to be a Guardian.”
“Without practical experience, yes.” Elpis smiled warmly as an arcane liquid leaked out from her fingers. It dripped onto the pavement, forming a silver puddle on the floor. “So what better way to enhance your combat abilities than to actually be involved in one?”
“I’m doing this my way.” Kleopatra folded her arms. “I’m warning you. I won’t hesitate to fight back if you get in my way this time.”
Elpis gave her a wry smile as she snapped her fingers. The puddle shimmered and turned into a portal. Gaius raised an eyebrow, impressed. Teleporting without a wand was something only Grand Magis could do.
“This will lead straight to Angelo’s hideout.” Elpis gestured for them to step into it. “Come on, the boy isn’t going to save himself.”
Gaius gazed into the puddle for a brief moment before hopping into it.282Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZNPEwqG2BO
